Why Aren’t You Writing? Afraid?

When you start writing a book, your demons will come up. That’s a good thing. You get to clear them. However, you often have to name them before you can clear them.

Here are two demons that almost everyone grapples with–just two sides of the same coin: Fear of Success and Fear of Failure.

Over the past couple weeks, a participant in my Bring Your Book to Life Program found himself severely challenged in making progress on his book. We did some work with his “muse” and got powerful answers about how to get back to the writing flow he experienced earlier on in the course. But I had a feeling the Fear of Success and Failure Demon lurked somewhere as well.

I asked him about it and he said, “I thought of that. Yes.” We went back to his muse to unblock.

His answer to the fear was to ask two questions:
1. What’s the worst thing that can happen [if I fail]?
2. What’s the best thing that can happen?

The answer to question 1: “Nothing. I’m right where I am, which is not all bad.”

Holding published books by Write Your Book Clients. Is yours next?

His answer to question 2: “It’s tremendous.I’m in front of the room having fun, laughing, joking, teaching and improving lives. And getting paid to do it. The money is important but more important is helping people.”

I asked him to connect to the second imagebefore he writes each day. To feel how good it feels and set himself up for that success. I also suggested he start the morning envisioning himself writing with ease–feeling inspired, the words flow, and he enjoys uninterrupted writing time.

What’s your worst case/best case scenario? How can you set yourself up for success? What are you envisioning to start your day or writing time?

About Lisa Tener

Lisa Tener is an award-winning book writing coach who assists writers in all aspects of the writing process—from writing a book proposal and getting published to finding one’s creative voice. Her clients have appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Early Show, The Montel Williams Show, CNN, Fox News, New Morning and much more. They blog on sites like The Huffington Post, Psychology Today and WebMD.